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The Homewood

Monday, 12 August 2013

This weekend we took a trip out of London down to Surrey to visit The Homewood.

This 1930s modernist house was designed by architect Patrick Gwynne for his parents. It was his first house project and was influenced by his love of the styles of Le Corbusier and Mies Van der Rohe, two of our favourite architects here in the Digital household.

Gwynne joined the RAF during World War II, and returned afterwards to live at the Homewood until he passed away in 2003, aged 90. The house is an extraordinary example of a property in which the architect himself lived for so many years.

The property is now managed by the National Trust and we'd been waiting a while to book our places to tour it. It's only open on certain weekends and spaces are limited.

This mosaic shows the floor plan of the house (in orange) and spells out the name of the architect and the house (in black). Can you see it?!

Sadly you can't take photos inside the house, which is really impressive. Gwynne designed all the furniture and fittings himself, another unusual feature of this property. The main room, which faces out onto the garden, is open-plan, but is 'divided' into 3 distinct areas: a morning area, a drinks area and an evening or winter area. I could have sat forever in one of the reclining chairs (Eames, of course!) with a book and a coffee and this splendid view...

The grounds at The Homewood are divine. There's a wonderful lawn, and you can wander at leisure amongst the trees and ponds.

I particularly liked the swimming pool, which is unusually lined with green tiles, giving it an amazing colour that you just want to dive into...

I'd definitely recommend a visit here, there are so many interesting details and the blend of visiting the house and garden is really enjoyable. For details on opening times click here.